"Increasingly one gets the impression that he is living in a third-world country"

Yes, indeed. Read a little about mandated vehicle inspections. Includes this:

As with most government regulations the poor are most negatively impacted. The well-to-do can afford better vehicles which require less maintenance, while the poor end up with thousands of dollars in repairs. Worst case, they drive on expired tags, are arrested (many have warrants for previous driving violations), and go to jail, thereby losing their job, their income, their insurance, etc. I once had the tags stolen from my license plates. At the time, I couldn't imagine who would do such a thing. But now I know there is a very lucrative black market in stolen license plate tags. A driver may not have a valid driver's license, but for twenty bucks he can buy stolen tags, which may keep him from getting pulled over in the first place.

Comments

[Acad Ronin]

Transparency International has been publishing its Corruption Perceptions Index for some time. In 2001, the US ranked 16th, already not a badge of honour, with a score of 7.6. In 2010, it ranked 25th, with a score of 7. Over the same period, for the group of some 90 countries for which there is data for both years, the group as a whole (i.e., including the US) has shown a decline in the average level of corruption. Now such countries as Hong Kong, Chile, Uruguay, and Qatar rank more highly than the US.

[kyle8]

You could probably cut out corruption index in half by eliminating the Chicago area.

[Terry Pratt]

As a borderline poor person, I have long been fascinated by the economics of poverty in North America.

The esteemed blogger would do well to study it sometime. There are many diseconomies - higher costs - associated with being poor in the U.S.

Conservative talk show host Lars Larson has on several occasions cited one study claiming that having a car and license, on average, is associated with a better income boost than a high school diploma.

Some years ago I had a health collapse and spent several months in hospital. During this time, my tags expired and my car - parked at the rear of my driveway furthest from the street, with at least one other car parked closer to the street - received several tickets (for "abandoned vehicle" because the tags were expired).

By the time I was out of hospital and aware of the tickets, they had all defaulted for lack of response or resolution, and as a result my license was suspended. It would take a substantial sum to resolve the tickets and restore my driving privileges, which I am unable to do on a poverty level income.

If someone can tell me what I did to deserve this, I'd love to know.

But my story is but one example of how being poor can be hazardous to your ability to earn a living, let alone thrive.